Using Data to Measure Patient Satisfaction and Outcomes

Submitted by Patient Satisfaction on Mon, 11/16/2015 - 23:02

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Do you know how your patients and clients feel after a visit? Did they feel respected and that their needs were met? Did they feel a connection with staff and like their caregivers listened to and responded to their concerns? Was your facility itself a source of comfort and an inviting environment? If you don’t know the answer to these questions, or if you are just taking a haphazard guess, a look at your big picture data can help. Delving into using data to measure patient satisfaction and outcomes is a good place to start.

Using Data to Measure Patient Satisfaction and Outcomes

Think big data targets trends, not individual concerns. One patient who was unhappy enough to complain about the cold, noisy room on the third floor is just expressing an opinion. Big data allows you to see what the entire population of patients who use that room experienced. When you see that 80% of the people in that room rated it as uncomfortable, you can see that it is clearly impacting patient satisfaction—and come up with a plan to help.

Recent data analysis at the Cleveland Clinic revealed that patients had three primary concerns: respect, communication and surprisingly, happy, approachable providers. The results were a surprise to the team, who had previously – and erroneously – assumed that their biggest issue was timeliness and patient waiting times. Careful analysis of the patient satisfaction data allowed the Clinic to take actionable steps that improved overall patient satisfaction.